Opus Bank Names Joseph R. Simpson EVP, Chief Audit Executive

July 17, 2017 07:00 AM Eastern Time

IRVINE, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Opus
Bank (“Opus”) (NASDAQ: OPB) announced today that Joseph R. Simpson
has joined Opus as Executive Vice President, Chief Audit Executive. Mr.
Simpson is a 30-year banking veteran with extensive experience
overseeing the financial control and audit processes at large financial
institutions, as well as working with board audit committees to direct
and enhance Internal Audit and Enterprise Risk Management functions.

Stephen H. Gordon, founding Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and
President of Opus Bank, stated, “We are pleased that Joseph Simpson has
joined Opus as Chief Audit Executive to lead our internal audit team.
His expertise and unique mix of financial, risk management, business and
operational knowledge will provide Opus with an integrated and robust
audit service that promotes the adequacy and efficacy of our internal
financial, operating and credit controls throughout the Bank.”

Mr. Simpson joins Opus most recently from HealthNow New York, an
independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association, where he
served as Director of Enterprise Risk Management since 2016. From 2013
to 2016, Mr. Simpson served as Chief Audit Executive at First Niagara
Bank, where he directed a team of 40+ professionals and reported to the
Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Directors’ Audit
Committee. During his tenure at First Niagara, Mr. Simpson re-engineered
their Internal Audit function and implemented a comprehensive
transformation of the department’s risk assessment and audit processes
before the bank’s sale to KeyBank in 2016. Prior to joining First
Niagara, Mr. Simpson spent 24 years at HSBC Bank USA, where he served in
various financial reporting positions overseeing audit implementation
and execution, rising to the positions of Chief Accounting Officer in
2006 and to Head of Global Finance, Tax and Capital Audit in 2010. Mr.
Simpson started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Buffalo, NY. He
holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Canisius College
in Buffalo, NY, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Mr. Simpson is a
member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Opus Bank is an FDIC insured California-chartered commercial bank with
$8.0 billion of total assets, $5.4 billion of total loans, and $6.7
billion in total deposits as of March 31, 2017. Opus Bank provides
superior ideas and solutions, and banking products to its clients
through its Retail Bank, Commercial Bank, Merchant Bank and
Correspondent Bank. Opus Bank offers a suite of treasury and cash
management and depository solutions and a wide range of loan products,
including commercial, healthcare, media and entertainment, corporate
finance, multifamily residential, commercial real estate and structured
finance, and is an SBA preferred lender. Opus Bank offers commercial
escrow services and facilitates 1031 Exchange transactions through its
Escrow and Exchange divisions. Opus Bank provides clients with financial
and advisory services related to raising equity capital, targeted
acquisition and divestiture strategies, general mergers and
acquisitions, debt and equity financing, balance sheet restructuring,
valuation, strategy and performance improvement through its Merchant
Banking Division and its broker-dealer subsidiary, Opus Financial
Partners, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. Opus Bank’s alternative asset IRA
custodian subsidiary has over $13 billion of custodial assets and
approximately 47,000 client accounts, which are comprised of
self-directed investors, financial institutions, capital raisers and
financial advisors. Opus Bank operates 56 banking offices, including 32
in California, 21 in the Seattle/Puget Sound region in Washington, two
in the Phoenix metropolitan area of Arizona and one in Portland, Oregon.
Opus Bank is an Equal Housing Lender. For additional information about
Opus Bank, please visit our website at: www.opusbank.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may include forward-looking statements related to Opus
Bank’s plans, beliefs and goals, which involve certain risks, and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information
presented in this press release is not a guarantee of future events, and
actual events may differ materially from those made in, or suggested by,
the forward-looking information contained in this press release.
Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as “intend” or “expect” or variations
thereon or similar terminology. All such statements speak only as of the
date made, and Opus undertakes no obligation to update or revise
publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts

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